Display and presentation of merchandise are important aspects of retail. Accordingly, display packages must be suitable for the effective presentation and marketing of merchandise. Additionally, display packages must be designed to be adaptable to standard fixtures as well as to minimize the labor required by the retailer or jobber to unpack the items. Similarly, display packages must also minimize the labor and materials required to package and ship the products.
Attempts have been made to minimize costs incurred by suppliers, jobbers, and retailers in connection with the packaging, shipping and merchandising of goods in display packages. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,407 issued Apr. 11, 1967 to Palm for a "Carton for Storing and Loading Merchandise Display Cards" discloses a shipping carton configured to permit the display packages to be loaded directly onto a horizontal hanger. This device however requires a specially constructed shipping container, and is limited to unloading display packages on a horizontal hanger of a particular configuration.
Another way to reduce the labor required at store level to display packaged merchandise is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,970 issued Apr. 14, 1992 to Nielson et al. for a "Collapsible Display System". Nielson discloses an elongated plastic strip having a series of tabs which hold display items. This device permits display packages to be delivered to the store pre-loaded onto the strip thereby reducing in-store handling labor. However, the display packages must still be loaded onto the strip by the supplier or jobber prior to being shipped to the store. Furthermore a strip of a particular configuration is required to receive the products and secure them during shipment.
Another important aspect of product merchandising is the amount of shelf space required to display the products. Various attempts have been made to maximize sales per square footage of display. In particular U.S. Pat. No. 1,070,239 issued Aug. 13, 1913 to Ferguson discloses a plurality of display frames for displaying post cards or magazines. Each display includes an aperture located at the top of the display frame and a catch extending rearward from the bottom of the display frame. A chain of display frames is created by hanging aperture of a display frame onto catch of a previously hung display frame. However, merchandise must still be this loaded on to the device, and a supply of display frames must be maintained at the retail outlet. Further this device requires the manual construction of the hanging fixture.
Attempts have also been made to integrate a hanging feature within the display package itself. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,109 issued Sep. 12, 1978 to Donnelli et al. for a "Merchandising System For Use With Perforated Panels Or The Like" which discloses a display package formed with an attaching portion. This attaching portion permits a first package to hang directly to a perforated panel, and subsequent packages to hang directly in front of a preceding package. However, this approach requires the manual stacking of the packages and is limited to stacking horizontally.
The foregoing makes apparent that the limitations of prior art display packages and systems have not been completely satisfactorily addressed. It is therefore desirable to provide a display package that permits efficient use of shelf-space, and that is configured to minimize in store labor.